GETTING TO KNOW YOU

David Marusek

978-0-345-50428-9

267pp/$15.00/2007

In truth, I'm luck
that the title of David Marusek's short story collection Getting to
Know You doesn't apply to me. I first discovered Marusek's
stories in fiction in the 1990s when he began appearing in the pages of Asimov's.
I first met him when he attended Chicon 2000, the worldcon I ran
programming for. Since then, I've continued to read his stories, and
have seen him occasionally as our schedules have permitted. I have
to imagine that for many, Getting to Know You does apply to their
experience when reading the ten stories collected in this book, originally
published by Subterranean Press in 2007 (and now out of print).

Marusek cleverly put
his story "The Wedding Album" as the introduction to the
collection, not necessarily because the story is "better" than
the other stories in the collection, but because as a Nebula Nominee, it
is the most likely story to have been read by readers who are only getting
to know Marusek. For those readers who read the story back in 2000
when it appeared on the Nebula ballot, it will offer a comfortable
reminder of Marusek's ability before they delve into stories they may have
missed upon their original publication. And if the reader missed these
stories when they first appeared, there is a good chance they will be new,
for other than "The Wedding Album," only three of the stories,
have been reprinted.

“The Earth is On the Mend” is a tale of
life in a post-apocalyptic world, although in this case, it is a world
which has apparently suffered an environmental cataclysm, rather than a
nuclear one. The story is seen from the point of view of a lone hunter who
has seen little game, and fewer humans and is starting to see his
subsistence level improve. This, of course, causes other problems for him
and Marusek provides an ending which is ambiguously hopeful and his hunter
possibly finds something larger to live for.

Marusek includes the epistolary tale "Yurek
Rutz, Yurek Rutz, Yurek Rutz" which posits the idea that as long as
one's name is remembered, even if nothing is known except the name, it
confers an immortality on the person to whom the name belongs. Not as
obvious if the stories are read as initially published, but in a
collection, it becomes clear that Yurek Rutz is a continuing theme in
Marusek's writing.

Half of the stories are set in a related
universe, which includes Marusek's first novel, Counting Heads.
"The Wedding Album," "We Were Out of Our Minds with
Joy," "A Boy in Cathyland," "Cabbages and Kale or: How We Downsized North America,"
and "Getting to Know You." Although each of these stories can be
read on their own, being able to read them together brings them more depth
and provides a greater sense of the world Marusek has created and
continued in Counting Heads.

“My Morning Glory,” the final story in Getting
to Know You, originally published as a short in Nature
and later reprinted in Futures from
Nature is a piece that Marusek describes as his “only story with an
unalloyed happy ending,” but it might perhaps be better described as
Stuart Smalley on ProzacTM.
Marusek’s protagonist knows that his life is not going as well as he
would like, but he is surrounded by automated yes-robots. His potential
downfall is his ability to blind himself to realities simply by listening
to the programmed voices around him.

For
those who were previously unfamiliar with Marusek's work, this collection
really does allow the reader to get to know this author. For those
who have already read some of his short stories, it allows them to get reacquainted
with Marusek and perhaps discover new depth and variety to his writing.
Containing most of his published short stories, it provides a good
introduction to his writing and with five stories set in the same world as
Counting Heads offers a gateway to that novel.